1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine starter that restarts an engine when a restart request for the engine is caused.
2. Background Art
Recently, in a car on which an engine is mounted, in order to improve the fuel efficiency of the engine or the like, an idling stop system has been adopted, in which the engine is automatically stopped when an engine output is not required, and the engine is automatically restarted when en engine output is required.
An engine automatic stop/restart device is described in Patent Document 1, which selects one control means from a plurality of control means including a control means, by which a motor is rotated so as to synchronize a rotational velocity of a pinion to a rotational velocity of a ring gear, when a restart request for the engine is caused during the rotational velocity of the engine is reduced until the engine is stopped, and the pinion is extruded and engaged to a ring gear so as to start the cranking of the engine, after a difference between both rotational velocities is reduced, and then restarts the engine.
Although a detailed explanation for an operation means, by which the motor for rotatably driving the pinion and an actuator for engaging the pinion to the ring gear linked to a crank shaft of the engine are individually operated, is not described in this Patent Document 1, it is considered that the engine automatic stop/restart device includes an electromagnet for extruding a pinion and an electromagnetic relay for energizing a motor, which are described, for example, in Patent Document 2.
Moreover, there is a well-known conventional engine starter, in which a pinion stroke and a torsional angle of a helical spline linking portion are set in such a way that a pinion, which is extruded, in conjunction with a clutch, in an opposite direction of a motor, is contacted to an end surface of a ring gear, and then the pinion can be rotated and moved to a position at which the pinion can be engaged to the ring gear, before a motor contactor is closed (for example, refer to Patent Document 3).